FILE PHOTO: The U.S. flag and a smartphone with the Huawei and 5G network logo are seen on a PC motherboard in this illustratio

By Josh Horwitz

SHANGHAI (Reuters) – The latest U.S. government action against China’s Huawei takes direct aim the company’s HiSilicon chip division–a business that in a few short years has become central to China’s ambitions in semiconductor technology but will now lose access to tools that are central to its success.

That could make it the most damaging U.S. attack yet against a Chinese company that U.S. officials told reporters Wednesday functioned as a “tool of strategic influence” for the Chinese Communist Party. Huawei Technologies Co Ltd for its part denounced the U.S. allegations and called the new measures “arbitrary and pernicious.”

Established in 2004, HiSilicon develops chips mostly for Huawei, and for most of its existence has been an afterthought in a global chip business dominated by U.S., Korean and Japanese companies. Like most electronics firms, Huawei relied on others for the chips that powered its equipment.

But heavy investment in research and development helped drive rapid progress at HiSilicon, and in recent years the 7,000-employee unit has been central to Huawei’s rise as a dominant player in the global smartphone business and the emerging 5G telecom networking business.

HiSilicon’s Kirin smartphone processor is now considered to be on par with those created by Apple Inc <AAPL.O> and Qualcomm Inc <QCOM.O> –a rare example of an advanced Chinese semiconductor product that competes globally.

HiSilicon is also central to Huawei’s leadership in 5G, stepping into the breach when the United States cut off access to some U.S. chips last year.

In March, Huawei revealed that 8% of the 50,000 5G base stations it sold in 2019 came with no U.S. technology, using HiSilicon chipsets instead.

But the U.S. export control rule, first reported by Reuters last week, aims to block HiSilicon’s access to two crucial tools: chip design software from U.S. firms including Cadence Design Systems Inc <CDNS.O> and Synopsys Inc <SNPS.O>, and the manufacturing prowess of “foundries,” led by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd <2330.TW>, that build chips for many of the world’s top semiconductor firms.

With the new restrictions，HiSilicon “will be in a situation where they’re not able to manufacture chips at all, or if they do, then they’re not leading edge anymore,” says Stewart Randall, who tracks China’s chip industry at Shanghai-based consultancy Intralink.

Without its own processors, Huawei will lose its edge over domestic smartphone rivals, analysts said. International sales had already been gutted by a ban on the use of key Google software.

Industry sources say Huawei has stockpiled chips, and the new U.S. rule will not go into full force for 120 days. U.S. officials also note that licenses could be granted for some technologies. HiSilicon can also keep using design software it has already acquired.

Still, analysts agree HiSilicon is in a tough spot. Nearly all chip factories globally — including China’s leading foundry, Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp <0981.HK> — buy gear from the same equipment makers, led by U.S. firms Applied Materials Inc <AMAT.O>, Lam Research Corp <LRCX.O> and KLA Corp <KLAC.O>.

The new U.S. rule requires licenses for companies using U.S. machinery to build Huawei-designed chips and delivered to the Chinese firm. To be sure, the new rule will not catch items shipped to a third party, allowing HiSilicon’s fabricators like TSMC the ability to ship chips to HiSilicon’s device manufacturers who can send them directly to a customer.

While there are alternatives to American machines – Japan’s Tokyo Electron Ltd <8035.T>, for example, makes gear that competes with Applied Materials – replacing U.S. technology is not as simple as swapping out a machine.

“You almost have to think about it like a heart transplant,” said VLSI Research Chief Executive Dan Hutcheson, noting that chip production lines are finely calibrated systems where everything has to work well together.

Doug Fuller of the Chinese University of Hong Kong said Huawei had a few options. It could slip around the rule by having suppliers ship directly to Huawei customers, though the U.S. officials said they would be vigilant about such workarounds.

Huawei and the Chinese government could re-double efforts to build production capabilities that did not require U.S. tools, by investing in nascent Chinese competitors and buying from Japanese and Korean firms, even if that required quality sacrifices.

Or Huawei could turn away from HiSilicon and revert to buying from overseas suppliers–just not American ones. “There’s talk of Huawei just turning to Samsung processors,” for its smartphone, said Fuller.

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Call of Duty Modern Warfare Season 4 release: Is this when Warzone Season 4 comes out? – Express

A new Call of Duty Modern Warfare Season 4 update is in the works but developers Infinity Ward has yet to confirm when they plan to release it.

The original date was set for June 3, 2020, across all platforms, with new weapons and a Battle Pass expected.

There have been rumours that Season 4 could also include some significant changes for the Verdansk map, none of which have been confirmed by Activision.

But having announced its plans to launch Season 4 of Modern Warfare during June, there has been no news regarding what the new date will be.

The most recent statement from Infinity Ward reads: “While we all look forward to playing the new seasons of Modern Warfare, Warzone and Call of Duty: Mobile, now is not the time.

“We are moving the launches of Modern Warfare Season 4 and Call of Duty: Mobile Season 7 to later dates.

“Right now it’s time for those speaking up for equality, justice and change to be seen and heard. We stand alongside you.”

But while there has been no concrete news on when Call of Duty Modern Warfare Season 4 will begin, a new leak suggests it’s being scheduled for this week.

It should be noted that this information comes from data miners and has not been confirmed yet by Activision or Infinity Ward.

The news shared through Modern Warzone suggests that Call of Duty Modern Warfare and COD Warzone Season 4 will be released late Pacific time on June 9.

This would mean that the new Warzone update will be available to download and install at around 7am GMT, on June 10, in the UK.

This is the same pattern used by developers Infinity Ward for previous patch releases and would be going live at a quieter time, to help with server strain.

However, until Activision shares its official plans, this remains speculation and should be taken with a grain of salt.

While things may have been updated in the Call of Duty game files, that doesn’t mean Activision won’t choose to change things again.

Fans believe that when Season 4 does arrive, some areas of the map might be altered dramatically on PS4, Xbox One and PC.

This could include The Dam being destroyed, affecting other areas of the Verdansk map, with data miners reporting finding new sound files of ice cracking, among other things.

A range of new weapons, skins and maps are also expected to arrive as part of the Modern Warfare bundle.

This will reportedly include new melee weapons, although it’s unclear if these will come to both Modern Warfare and Warzone.

Developers Infinity Ward has yet to provide its plans for the coming weeks, or when they will share official patch notes.

New Playlist changes could also be on the cards, with Duos expected to stick around for a while.

A number of other Playlists for Warzone have also leaked, including one that allows you to start with your own loadout, another that features the gas always moving, and another that makes the gas always progress faster than a player.

Another that could replace the current lineup is one that allows dead players to duke it out in the Gulag until the final three circles, with no buybacks allowed.‬

Activision is expected to share official news via a new blog post when we get closer to the rescheduled release date of Call of Duty Season 4.

Some iPhone 11 models display a green tint after unlocking – Engadget

A number of iPhone users are seeing a strange green tint on their devices’ displays for a few seconds after unlocking, and it’s still unclear what’s causing the phenomenon. Based on the complaints posted on Reddit and the MacRumors forum, the most affected devices are the ‌iPhone 11‌, 11 Pro and 11 Pro Max. However, some iPhone X and XS users seem to be experiencing the issue, as well.

Several users are saying that the green tint only shows up when they have Dark Mode and Night Shift on or if they’re in dark room. Affected users are also reporting that the issue popped up after iOS 13.4 came out, though there are those who’ve only noticed it after upgrading to iOS 13.5. At least one user says the green tint disappeared upon installing iOS 13.5.5, which is currently in beta, so it’s looking more likely that it’s a software issue. We’ve reached out to Apple for a statement and will update you when we hear back — if it is a software issue, then the tech giant is bound to roll out an update that’ll fix it in the future.

All products recommended by Engadget are selected by our editorial team, independent of our parent company. Some of our stories include affiliate links. If you buy something through one of these links, we may earn an affiliate commission.

New release date for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Season 4 has been leaked – PCGamesN

The rescheduled date for the next season of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, Season 4, has been leaked. The turnover from Season 3 had been delayed so as to not overshadow or contend with the global protests surrounding racial injustice.

Through data-mining the files of Season 3, per ModernWarzone, Twitter user Geekypastimes discovered that the ending date had been altered from June 2, to June 10. This would mean the change-over will occur at what is a regular time for new Call of Duty updates, in the evening of June 9 if you’re in the US, and in the morning of June 10 if you’re UK and Europe.

Activision and Infinity Ward announced on Twitter that the regularly scheduled next season would be delayed indefinitely on June 2. “Right now it’s time for those speaking up for inequality, justice and change to be seen and heard,” the message reads. “We stand alongside you.” It was expected to roll-out sometime June 3, containing several new weapons and maps, and a new operator. The Galil and Vector are believed to be headed to your arsenal, Scrapyard among the new locations, and one Captain Price to be a playable character.

In light of the current discussions about racial inequality, Infinity Ward has begun taking measures against racism in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare’s multiplayer and Warzone.

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